12-Step Group Descriptions
A complete guide to all 41 anonymous fellowships — who they serve, what they offer, and how to find a meeting near you.
Al-Anon
Al-Anon is an international fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength, and hope in order to solve their common problems.
Alateen
Alateen, part of the Al-Anon Family Groups, is a fellowship for young people whose lives have been affected by a family member's alcoholism. They practice the Twelve Steps and share experience, strength, and hope.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid movement whose primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. Founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio, AA now claims more than 2 million members worldwide.
Celebrate Recovery
Celebrate Recovery is a Christian-focused twelve-step program for recovery from various addictions, hurts, habits, and hang-ups. It is one of the most widely used Christ-centered recovery programs in the world.
Clutterers Anonymous
Clutterers Anonymous (CLA) is a twelve-step program for people who share a common problem with accumulation of clutter. The only requirement for membership is a desire to eliminate clutter and bring order into one's life.
Cocaine Anonymous
Cocaine Anonymous (CA) is a twelve-step program for people who seek recovery from cocaine, crack, speed, or similar substances. CA is patterned very closely after Alcoholics Anonymous.
Co-Anon
Co-Anon (formerly CocAnon) is a program for families and friends of cocaine users, analogous to Al-Anon for the friends and family of alcoholics.
Co-Dependents Anonymous
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) is a twelve-step program for people who share a common desire to develop functional and healthy relationships. CoDA was founded in 1986 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Codependents of Sex Addicts
COSA is a recovery program for family or friends whose lives have been affected by someone else's compulsive sexual behavior. Each COSA member may choose to define themselves as a codependent of sexual addiction.
CoSex and Love Addicts Anonymous
COSLAA is a twelve-step fellowship created to support the family members and friends of sex and love addicts.
Crystal Meth Anonymous
Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA) is a California Non-Profit, Public Benefit Corporation working as a twelve-step fellowship of recovered and recovering methamphetamine addicts.
Debtors Anonymous
Debtors Anonymous (DA) is a twelve-step program for people who want to stop incurring unsecured debt. Members attend more than 500 weekly meetings in nine countries. Those who compulsively incur unsecured debt are known as compulsive debtors.
Eating Disorders Anonymous
Eating Disorders Anonymous (EDA) is a fellowship of individuals who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problems and help others to recover from their eating disorders.
Emotions Anonymous
Emotions Anonymous (EA) is a twelve-step program for recovery from mental and emotional illness. As of 2004 there were approximately 1,100 EA groups active in the United States.
Emotional Health Anonymous
Emotional Health Anonymous (EHA) was created from Emotions Anonymous (EA), which is a twelve-step program for recovery from mental and emotional illness. Neurotics Anonymous is a predecessor of EA.
Families Anonymous
Families Anonymous (FA) is a twelve-step program for relatives and friends of addicts. FA was founded in 1971 by a group of parents in Southern California. As of 2007 there are FA meetings in more than 20 countries and about 225 regular meetings in the United States.
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) is a twelve-step program based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. Its members are people who could not control their eating behavior or were obsessed with food.
Food Addicts Anonymous
Food Addicts Anonymous is a twelve-step program for people with biochemical food addictions, patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. The program is based on the premise that some people are addicted to refined high-carbohydrate foods.
Gam-Anon / Gam-A-Teen
Gam-Anon and Gam-A-Teen are twelve-step programs for spouses and children of problem gamblers. In the USA you can find a meeting or talk to a live GA volunteer by calling 888-GA-HELPS (4357).
Gamblers Anonymous
Gamblers Anonymous (GA) is a twelve-step program for problem gamblers. The only requirement for GA membership is a desire to stop gambling.
GROW
GROW is a peer support and mutual aid organization for recovery from, and prevention of, serious mental illness. It uses a community mental health model with twelve-step elements.
LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program
The LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and uses twelve-step principles integrated with LDS teachings.
Marijuana Anonymous
Marijuana Anonymous is a twelve-step program for people with a common desire to maintain abstinence from marijuana. MA follows the Twelve Traditions and suggests practicing the Twelve Steps, which both originated from AA.
Nar-Anon
Nar-Anon is a twelve-step program for friends and family members of drug addicts. Nar-Anon is complementary to, but separate from, Narcotics Anonymous (NA); its traditions state it should always cooperate with Narcotics Anonymous.
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a twelve-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, describing itself as a fellowship of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. It is the second-largest 12-step organization in the world.
Neurotics Anonymous
Neurotics Anonymous is a predecessor of Emotions Anonymous. To avoid confusion with Narcotics Anonymous, Neurotics Anonymous is abbreviated N/A or NAIL. Emotional Health Anonymous (EHA) was created independently from EA.
Nicotine Anonymous
Nicotine Anonymous (NicA) is a twelve-step program for people desiring to quit smoking and live nicotine-free. NicA defines abstinence as a state that begins when all use of nicotine ceases.
Online Gamers Anonymous
On-Line Gamers Anonymous (OLGA) is a twelve-step program for recovery from video game addiction, established as a non-profit organization in the United States.
Overeaters Anonymous
Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is a twelve-step program for people with problems related to food including, but not limited to, compulsive overeaters, those with binge eating disorder, bulimics, and anorexics.
Parents Anonymous
Parents Anonymous (PA) is a self-help group for parents who have abused their children. Unlike traditional twelve-step programs, PA mandates professional involvement and accepts funding from outside sources, but emphasizes the importance of protecting members' anonymity.
Pagans In Recovery
Pagans in Recovery (PIR) describes the collective efforts of Neopagans to achieve abstinence or the remission of compulsive/addictive behaviors through twelve-step programs adapted to earth-based spiritual traditions.
Pills Anonymous
Pills Anonymous (PA) is a twelve-step program for people who seek recovery from prescription drug addiction. PA uses the book Alcoholics Anonymous as its basic text, complemented by the PA Workbook and AA's Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
Schizophrenics Anonymous
Schizophrenics Anonymous is a self-help group to help people who are affected by schizophrenia cope with the disease. The program uses twelve-step principles alongside medical treatment.
Self Harmers Anonymous
Self Harmers Anonymous is a twelve-step program designed from Alcoholics Anonymous to prevent self-inflicting harm to oneself, which is different from but can include suicidal ideation.
Sex Addicts Anonymous
Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA) is an organization providing a twelve-step program for recovery from sex addiction. SAA defines sobriety in terms of each member's own inner circle of behaviors they wish to abstain from.
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) is a twelve-step program for people recovering from what they call sex addiction and love addiction, addressing both the physical and emotional dimensions of compulsive behavior.
Sexaholics Anonymous
Sexaholics Anonymous (SA) is one of several twelve-step programs for hypersexuality based on the original Twelve Steps of AA. SA takes its place among groups including SAA, SLAA, SCA, and Sexual Recovery Anonymous.
Sexual Compulsives Anonymous
Sexual Compulsives Anonymous (SCA) is an organization providing a twelve-step program for recovery from sexual compulsion, originally founded in New York City with particular outreach to the LGBT community.
Smokers Anonymous
Smokers Anonymous uses twelve-step principles for people desiring to quit smoking. Related to Nicotine Anonymous (NicA), the program maintains that total abstinence from nicotine is necessary for recovery.
Survivors of Incest Anonymous
Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA) is a twelve-step fellowship for recovery from the consequences of childhood sexual abuse. SIA is a self-help program of men and women who were sexually abused as children.
Workaholics Anonymous
Workaholics Anonymous (WA) is a twelve-step program for people identifying themselves as powerless over compulsive work, worry, or activity — including overworkers, those with unmanageable procrastination, or work aversion.
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